We are proud to inform that Ambassador Victor Jackovich, President of the Jackovich International USA and Member of the Board of Vienna Economic Forum represented Vienna Economic Forum and participated at the United Nations High-Level Debate on Digital Cooperation and Connectivity, held at UN headquarters in New York on 27. April 2021.
On behalf of Vienna Economic Forum, and upon an invitation by the organizer, Ambassador Jackovich stressed that Vienna Economic Forum is a platform where experts from the governments and peoples of Central Europe and Southeast Europe meet to discuss economic and related issues, as well as a platform for implementation of programs developed by the Vienna Economic Forum and by the states with whom VEF directly cooperates. „Some of these activities have been in the field of digital technology and among Vienna Economic Forum members are some of the most prestigious institutions dealing with digital technology in Austria and Europe“, Ambassador Jackovich said.
Ambassador Jackovich posed the following question to be considered by the speakers: “What can be done to protect more vulnerable societies (such as those in Southeast Europe aspiring to European Union membership) from the misuse of digital technology. i.e. the dissemination of false information or purposely misleading data that can have a deleterious impact and greater resonance on the populations of less developed information environments than on those in more developed environments?”
The Debate to follow included the highly valuable and interesting interventions and remarks provided by the high-level participants and experts on the matter including: Volkan Bozkir, President of General Assembly, UN, Munir Akram, President of Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of UN, Patrick Gelsinger, CEO Intel, Javier Villamizar, Operating Partner, SoftBank Vision Fund, Solinn Lim, Oxfam Cambodia, Country Director, Maria-Francesca Spatolisano, Assistant UN Secretary-General for Policy Coordination, Isabelle Durant, Acting UN Secretary-General of UNCTAD, Jose Ranon Lopez-Portillo, 10 Member Group, Technology Facilitation Mechanism, as well as some thought-provoking UN video presentations.
The importance of the issue – digital cooperation and connectivity – was conveyed by the fact that this was a very high-level conference addressed by several senior level officials of the UN, individual governments, company CEOs and NGOs. The debate was useful in identifying problems, however more attention ought to be paid to providing specific programs and implementable solutions.
Vienna Economic Forum is very proud to have been represented by the VEF Board Member Ambassador Jackovich who used this opportunity to highlight the VEF role from its headquarters in Vienna in supporting the aspirations of the governments and peoples of Central and Southeast Europe for the good development of the regional cooperation.
Among others, Vienna Economic Forum has also been granted the significant Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) and is constantly being invited to participate in important UN debates, as well as to support further development of the civil society worldwide.